Family Life and Disability

Yesterday I blogged about cyber-bullying and said that I hoped it was a subject you'd never have to deal with personally. Today, I'm saying the same thing - I hope that living with a disability is something that you'll never have to think about, but for those of you who are going through it or know that they will be in the future, I hope that this will give you a few ideas of simple adaptations you can make to the family home. My dad has been helping out with making changes to my uncle's house to make things easier for him and my aunt since he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Some of the changes are obvious - adding wheelchair ramps and stair lifts or medicalised beds - but some of them I wouldn't have thought about - such as swapping over to a car that you can actually ride your wheelchair into. For more advice and support, don't hesitate to get in touch with a local or national charity or support group, such as http://www.mndassociation.org/.

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Disabilities can be hard to deal with and they can greatly affect family life. However, like many of life's challenges, there are usually answers to a lot of the smaller problems.

Disabilities, whatever their severity, can affect families in numerous ways. Not only can physical restrictions make it difficult for some disabled people to interact with friends and family members in the way they'd like, but the emotional stress of dealing with these restrictions can put undue pressure on family relationships.

Finding a way to overcome these problems is therefore essential - after all, no-one deserves to have their quality of life lowered. Taking the time to talk through your problems and seek viable solutions will ensure that disabilities never get in the way again - allowing you to enjoy your life to the full.

Adapting the Home

The home is where people spend a lot of their time, so it’s only right that the needs of a disabled person are met within their own home. A sense of freedom and independence is important at any age, being disabled can often seriously harm or hamper this.

The biggest problem in any home is typically the stairs, yet this can be easily remedied by a stairlift. These lifts are easy and affordable devices. As they fit to the staircase, rather than being built into the house, the task of assembling stairlift units is not a difficult one, nor does it disturb the house. The stairlift provides the disabled member of the house a practical and easy method of moving between floors by themselves. When not in use, the stairlift is rather discrete, allowing the stairs to be used normally.

Likewise, besides the stairs, you want to make sure that there is plenty of space and that everything is accessible. This may include utilising furniture or facilities, such as walk-in baths, more suitable for disabled needs, but you can also do more simple things such as freeing up floor space to allow people to walk with mobility aids.

Moving Around Outdoors

Depending on where you live, transport might be an issue. If the likes of a wheelchair are used, you may find yourself needing to change to a more suitable vehicle that has the spacial requirements.

However, besides your own vehicle, public life is generally very accommodating. Buses and other forms of public transport can readily accommodate all forms of disabilities. This is important, because it can be a common pitfall to avoid going outside as often. Yet you shouldn't let such disabilities get in the way. As a family, it’s important to do things together, and most places are readily acceptable of disabilities, addressing many of the issues themselves.

This is crucial, because it’s obviously not fair to leave the disabled member out, or to make them feel different. Most public buildings have disabled facilities and other such factors, so there is very little to worry about.

In summary, this is only a quick introduction to how a disability can affect family life. It’s a very difficult situation to describe, but it’s one that has plenty of solutions and answers.

Above all, remember you're not alone. There is help and support out there, for the disabled person but also their carers, so don't be afraid to ask !

Disclosure : This is a sponsored, but nevertheless 100% honest, post.

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